I've had an ablation, and can definitely recommend the procedure, but I'm male.

The key is finding an experienced EP. Natale is kind of a rock star when it comes to ablations. It would be difficult to find anyone better to do the procedure.

54 is relatively young in terms of ablations, so a more aggressive approach might not be a bad thing, assuming your heart is normal structurally and you can get your thyroid under control.

Also, welcome to the board :-)

Welcome. It can take as long as a year to get your Thyroid under control, and possibly longer depending on severity and treatment. I am just getting mine back after several years without treatment. Temperature is better but still low at 97.7, from 96.9. Ive been treating without drugs and have used Nutritional balancing and supplements. Debating on removing mercury and root canals now. Regards.

I am 62, female and have had ablation and I also have thyroid issues, just now getting thyroid under control.Hard to say of ablation worked because of thyroid issues so I would suggest you get that taken care of first as go from there, Ha I known my thyroid was giving me so much grief in the beginning I may not have had or needed the ablation. I have been on thyroid meds for years and my blood work was always good even though I did not feel well, make sure you go to someone who is not afraid to dig deep with your thyroid, I finally got relief when I went to a natro who did dig deep, worked on the adrenals and have gone from 125 to 50 on the thyroid meds and feel great most of the time! Good luck!

Panicker Welcome to the next level. There are a couple of things you should take into consideration when it comes to ablations. First the hard stuff.

1. Most of the people that were on this board who have had successful ablations and no longer have a-fib, disappear because they are moving on with their lives. They usually stick around until after the blanking period and occasionally pop back to say hi and how they are doing after a while, but they arent regulars. On the other hand, there are some people who no longer have a-fib and are still here. These lovely people are a great help and support to the others.

2. Everyone is different. Sometimes the reason WHY you even have a-fib is obvious, sometimes its not. Some people have a structurally sound heart, some do not. Some need and are prepared to make lifestyle changes, others cant. Comparing yourself to others may be difficult, it might even be setting yourself up for a disappointment. What we all have in common is that we have a-fib, how we got there, what we do about it, even the medicine we take (if we take it) and how we take it is individual.

3. Statistics are just that: statistics. Dont forget that on the other side of 80% is 20%. Find out what your EP thinks success is.

That said, I think its great that you are on an anticoagulant. A stroke is not something you want to fool around with. I also think its great that you got a second opinion, one of them being from the king of ablations. I agree with duder that 54 is relatively young and with the possibility of a cure dangling in front of you, you might want to try. What are your alternatives??

You said that you have had a-fib for about 7 years has your thyroid been acting up that long, too?

I hope this helps an ablation can be a Godsend for many, in fact, many ask themselves why they waited so long before having it! I wish you luck in your decision!!

Take care,
across the pond (atp)

Thanks so much for all you replies.

Duder-it's always encouraging to hear about successful ablations. Who did your ablation?

Hwkmn-Thats great, especially doing it without the drugs. Natale says that thyroid meds. create focal points in the heart.

Daisy-I am working with an integrative doc on these issues and am always hoping that we'll get things tweeked just right and that I won't need an ablation. But then I'll have a day of afib and I am ready to make an ablation appt. nice to know that there is someone out there who knows what they are doing with thyroid issues.

ATP-Yes the thyroid has been out of sorts for 7 years. It has swung from hyper (due to using natural approach and not having bloodwork done), to being so hypo that I was experiencing vertigo. Had my first afib episode when I was hyper so the dr. refused to give me thyroid meds for well over a year. Unfortunately, both highs and lows seem to trigger afib for me.

It has taken me close to a year to get my thyroid straightened out, hang in there!

My ablation was performed by Dr. David DeLurgio, head of EP at Emory in Atlanta.

It's interesting that Natale told you that cryo "wouldn't work" - I'm assuming that this is due to your thyroid issues. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm *definitely* a fan of cryo! Two weeks since my ablation and I'm still afib-free, not one single episode since the surgery.

Panicker - I thought if you had thyroid issues that was believed to be triggering the AF episodes, they would treat the thyroid issues first before moving on to ablation, etc. My understanding is that thyroid issues are treatable and should be done first...???

what gives?

If I were you, I'd ensure everything possible has been done for the thyroid issues before considering ablation.

Ablation shouldn't be taken lightly - it should be considered after everything else has been tried and failed.

I agree....first things first.

Have you seen you PCP re your thyroid? There are several posts on today re Thyroid and how it has affected afib.

You said, 'probably'.....why not know for sure

Daisy-Did you experience more afib while your thyroid was out of sorts?

Duder-that is a very good question, I'll ask his nurse next time I have a chance.

Buddy-It's not that my thyroid isn't being treated, it's just not staying in one place. Part of it is my own fault. During the summer I started using iodine in larger doses to see if it would be a "cure" for my afib. I was able to cut back on thyroid meds, but eventually cut way back on the iodine and decided that was not the cure I had hoped it to be. This fall my TSH was .20 which is borderline out of range. So they cut the synthroid. When I tested in Dec. everything was at a good level. Now it feels to me like it is too low, but I am waiting on results and I am experiencing more afib. That's probably TMI, huh?

Yes,my afib was considerably worse when thyroid is off. I told my Endo I thought I was on too much meds and he blew it off because my numbers were fine, ended up in ER of course, which showed my TSH was 0.22 so no wonder I was having so many issues. Natro had been working on adrenal support and reducing my thyroid meds, thought process is if you fix the adrenals the thyroid will follow and for me that is what happened,Been on the last reduction for about 3 months and have gone 60 plus days with no afib and only a few pacs one in awhile which is good for me. I feel so much better than I have in years. I am only taking a good B complex with adrenal support which is not proprietary to my natro, I can buy it on Amazon and no more expensive than any good B complex. I get blood work done every 4 weeks so they can watch it closely. I also eat healthy and organic when ever possible. You will have to find where you feel the best as far as your number goes. Everyone is different so trust yourself on how you feel and do not take no for an answer if your numbers are within the so called range .If you have a good integrated doc you will get there but it does take some time.

EP tells me it is very possible the thyroid was causing allot of my grief over the past several months and suggested i take the sotalol until I get straightened out because it can take months to get where you need to be. He wants the rate to stay down but I have not yet had to take it. Yay!

Panicker, I might add that I never had my thyroid tested by a doctor. IMO, they mistreat or misdiagnose it. I had gone thru a few cardios and PCPs who never even thought to mention it. My first visit to a Naturalpathic Doctor, not a naturalpath, yes there is a difference, He discovered it. It is very simple to treat naturally, but of course it can be a challenge to get the correct testing done. Kinda like the way they test you for Magnesium levels and say youre fine after only testing in our blood, where possibly only 10% is stored. At any rate, hopefully this will be the cause of AF. For me, ablation is last resort as theres nothing else in the pipeline after that.

Daisy-I understood your earlier post to day you had an ablation. So the ablation was not successful? Also what is in the adrenal support supplement you use besides the b vitamins, just curious.

Hwkmn-I agree with you on the testing because there are times that I can definitely say that the way I felt did not correspond to the numbers. However, when I first ran into the afib issue is when I was using natural supplements and I always wonder if I could have averted my first episode if I had bloodwork done. That time in the ER my TSH was

Hmmm, post was cut off....was saying TSH was